SLO County News BlogGolf, Wine, Real Estate, Business & Travel NewsSLO Marketplace rejected by votersWednesday, April 27, 2005San Luis Obispo voters appeared late Tuesday to have rejected the Dalidio Ranch Marketplace, but hundreds of ballots left to count leave the fate of the controversial retail project up in the air."If the trend continues, this sends a clear message that San Luis Obispo is not interested in going the way of so many other California cities," said Ben Romo, manager for the campaign against the Dalidio Ranch Marketplace. "They don't want to sacrifice their downtown for projected sales tax revenue." The Dalidio Ranch Marketplace project was previously approved by the San Luis Obispo City Council but a community group was able to gather more than 14,000 signatures to force the issue to go to a special election. The projects seek to bring a Lowe's, Target and other large retail stores to southern San Luis Obispo. The marketplace proposal was the subject of an intense campaign between backers and opponents. Proponents said the development would generate much-needed sales tax dollars for San Luis Obispo at a time when state financial raids are causing many cities to look for alternate funding sources. They also pointed to the construction of the Prado Road overpass as part of the project as another positive aspect of the development. In addition to 650,000 square feet of retail space, the project also included development of four acres of condominiums and townhomes that the developer has said might sell for about $300,000. However, opponents of the Dalidio family's plan, a group called Save San Luis Obispo, claimed that the project would actually cost the city money since the city would be repaying the developer for the Prado overpass and other infrastructure construction. They also feared that the new stores on the outskirts of town would take away shoppers from downtown businesses. Opponents also said the project would create unavoidable traffic problems due to the additional 20,956 car trips per day that the shopping center is expected to create. Read entire article at: Marketplace rejected The Tribune, Leslie Griffy and Matt Lazier To see more of The Tribune, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to www.sanluisobispo.com. (c) 2005, The Tribune, San Luis Obispo, Calif. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. Read More
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